


Starcrossed Mishap

by raenie



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, star-crossed lover-ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-05-05 07:55:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5367299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raenie/pseuds/raenie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eager to get away from small town history, Levi winds up in Sina, a city of opportunities and entrepreneurs. Levi never cared for starcrossed mishap, and certainly didn't expect to bump into Eren, a long time rival from back home.</p><p>Ongoing</p>
            </blockquote>





	Starcrossed Mishap

The last time Levi remembered talking to Eren was at the garage sale he was holding--Levi was intent on getting away from the little town he grew up in and doing it fast. With so much family tree business always circulating throughout the few streets of Shiganshina, he was ready to leave the garden and find his own place to flourish.

He was also a little sick of the family rivalry with the house next door.

Jaegers v. Ackermans, as the local population knew it, was the longest, bitterest, and most infamous standing relationship that anyone in the little town knew since sliced bread. No one seemed to remember how it started, but it spurred a lot of nasty things like bloody street fights and staring contests, quarrelling over territory and judging each other’s outfits. They each formed connections and gangs and seemed to have little common ground. Of course, as Levi had thought multiple times since the day he was sent to the Ackerman house to live with his mother’s side of the family, one of them could have just moved away from each other on a different, farther side of town-- it wasn’t as if there was only one neighborhood. But of course, no one wanted to move out of the homes that had been built by their ancestors and improved upon greatly since, so it was something that went unconsidered.

So Levi decided that he would move; he figured that it was better for the shops who worried that they might have to employ the aggressive Ackerman who might lower business, better for his aunt and cousins who didn’t like him in the slightest, probably better for the Jaegers, who would have fewer Ackermans to deal with. Most importantly, it would be better for him.

On the day of the garage sale, Levi reclined in a chair behind all of the boxes he’d hauled onto the driveway and flicked mindlessly through a copy of Romeo and Juliet from his freshman year of high school, just for the ironic parallel of the play and the situation between the two houses in his own neighborhood. Levi wrinkled his nose every time Romeo came into the scene, which was often. He was just too fast, jumping from Rosaline to Juliet to marriage, even to his own death, when upon the last moment he noticed Juliet awakening. Hopeless guy, he groused.

“A garage sale, Ackerman?”

There were few people who would approach him with a challenging tone as that one.

Levi didn’t lower his book, only glared menacingly at the figure above him from where he was sitting.

He wouldn’t have minded the Jaegers if they didn’t expect him to be like his relatives in that town.

“You want something, Eren?” Eren Jaeger turned red, presumably in rage. As an Ackerman, addressing a Jaeger informally would be asking for a broken arm; it was the same implication the other way around. If he had any excuse, the only thing that Levi had over Eren were three years and massive strength.

Levi irritably thought about the inches that Eren had over him. Damn it.

If Eren wanted to crack Levi’s limbs, he suppressed the urge. “I need self-study books to prepare for tenth grade, and you looked like you were selling them.”

“Mmm,” Levi answered, getting up from his chair to find the books. Family rivals or not, he wasn’t going to pass Eren up if he was willing to buy his old high school materials--he needed the money. He bent over one of the boxes and went through its contents.

“I heard that you’re going to start college,” Eren said roughly.

Levi stopped to give Eren a strange stare.

“What?” Eren demanded, his cheeks going hot again. God, the kid got pissed easily.

“What?” He repeated forcefully. He ran a hand through his dark hair and cast his gaze to the side. “Look I’m just-”

“I’m just surprised by your… sudden interest in civil conversation,” Levi answered, walking through rows of open boxes and picking one up and placing it on a table for Eren to see. “And I am going to college very soon. You want to look at these?”

“I can be civil!” Eren declared hotly as he looked through the contents, selecting a few and thumbing through the pages. “You wrote in these?”

Levi hummed in answer. “Just wrote some notes that I thought were important.” Eren stacked the books to the side before proceeding in silence. It was a bit weird, Levi had thought, being this close to a Jaeger and to not have been openly insulted yet. He watched as Eren took his time to go through everything before telling Levi that he wanted all of his textbooks.

Levi quirked an eyebrow as he totaled the price. “Aren’t you starting sophomore year this fall?”

“So?” Eren spat defiantly. “I believe in hard work.”

“Why would you want all this right away?”

“I’ll need them eventually anyways. The notes look okay.” Ah. So, that was why.

Levi put out his hand. “150 dollars.” Eren gaped at him.

“What?!” he yelped. Levi leaned over.

“Listen, each textbook and self-study guide that I own I’m selling for ten dollars each, far less than that overpriced bookstore in town.” He tapped on a box in front of Eren’s chest. “You are buying these in good condition and with my very ‘detailed’ notes. I don’t think that you should be complaining all that much.” He leaned back from Eren’s flushed and indignant face. “It will be saving you a lot, and--if this fact helps--it’s not like this is going to make me any richer.”

Eren was quiet for a moment. He dug out his wallet, counted, and slapped a wad of money into Levi’s still open hand before he began lugging a box away, yelling that he’d be getting the others soon. Levi sighed and looked down at the mixed number of bills in his hand before stuffing them in his pocket and going to help Eren.

It wasn’t until after Levi was done helping Eren carry the boxes and counted the money when he found out that Eren had accidentally given him 50 dollars extra.

“You gave me too much!” Levi hiss-yelled that night through a hallway window upstairs that faced Eren’s open bedroom window. “Eren!”

Eren glanced over from the advanced algebra II book that he’d gotten from Levi.

“You gave me too much,” Levi repeated, shaking the money in the air. 

Eren blinked and Levi sighed.

“YOU. GAVE. ME-” Levi halted mid-sentence when Eren pulled on a string to lift his blinds up a little more.

Eren leaned out of his window from between his curtains, not even looking at Levi’s hand of bills.

“Keep the change, peasant,” Eren scoffed before sliding back inside and shutting the glass, pulling the blinds and curtains closed.

Levi felt his eye twitch in annoyance. 

At least he’d tucked Romeo and Juliet into one of the boxes--now he could rid himself of family rivalries altogether.

He left the following week and never came back to that little town since.

 

December, Eight years later

“-And then Mike spilled his coffee all over Erwin!”

“Oh God,” Levi cringed.

“Oh, don’t worry, Erwin said it was lukewarm, so no burns,” Levi’s coworker, Hanji, reassured him, still tittering from the event. Clearly, it was more comical seeing what happened rather than hearing about it. “Oh, and by the way, you forgot your umbrella.”

He cursed. It was pouring outside and he had just gotten into the supermarket parking lot, having left work a while ago. He said good bye to Hanji before ending the call and looking morosely at the rain sliding down his windshield.

He sloshed his wet shoes onto the damp mat at the entrance of the grocery store, stamping his soles on it and grabbing a basket. He tried his best not to drip all over the vegetables as he tied up baggies of tomatoes and nearly slipped on his way to the dairy section. He threw his carton of milk into his basket with a little too much force and ended up getting the stink eye from a mother next to him, drawing her child closer to her side.

He was getting a little frustrated when he couldn’t get the bag of bread on the high shelf, and even more so when someone took it.

Levi was just about to give the snatcher a piece of his mind when he was handed the bread.

“Here,” said a voice above him.

“Oh.” He blinked. “Thanks.” He took the bread and looked up.

One time, when Levi was still in middle school, one of his cousins greeted him by dousing him with a bucket of water. It was January then, so the the splash was terrible--a cold shock that made him scream inside. He felt like time had stopped for a moment so that he couldn’t move his body, however much he wanted to go inside and jump into a warm bath or fling his cousin to the lake on the other side of town. He felt wet, cold, speechless, immobile, and with a feeling that something dreadful was going to happen.

This was similar, except a little less cold.

“A--Ackerman?” Eren stammered.

Levi gawked at him.

Eren moved his gaze to take in Levi’s drenched clothes and dart back to his face.

Levi stood there, ruining the bread in his clutches.

Eren cleared his throat.

“Hi,” Levi managed.

Oh my God, Levi thought to himself, trying to regain his composure. I’m acting like a fucking idiot.

Levi tried again, straightening his back and clearing his own throat, relieving Eren of some rising fear that he might have to call the ambulance.

 

“Eren,” Levi said, his eyes going back to their normal size as he eyed the other. “I didn’t know that you’d be here.”

Eren forced a smile. “Yeah, I actually go to the university here, and I needed to get some food.”

“Sina University?” SU was a renowned school. 

Eren nodded and tried to look modest. 

Damn.

“Do you live in Sina?” Eren asked conversationally.

“I do.”

“You must have a good job,” Eren complimented.

“Thank you.”

Eren went silent and Levi was relieved--he hadn’t planned nor wanted an encounter with anyone from his hometown.

Levi hastily began talking again once he noticed Eren’s mouth open again. “Well, thanks for getting this for me…” he gestured to the bread in his hand, squished from Levi’s tense grip. “I’d better go.” Levi turned on his heel to escape the situation as fast as he could.

“Ackerman!”

Levi ignored him. He could tell by the footsteps tapping behind him that the stupid brat was trying to catch up to him. Levi quickened his pace.

“You sure are fast for someone who hasn’t grown at all,” Eren said, and backtracked the moment it came out of his mouth. “Well, I mean, you’ve always been very fast, of course,” Eren laughed miserably.

Levi didn’t answer him, only went to a self-checkout station and began ringing up his items.

“Hey.” Levi felt something touch his shoulder and whipped around, hissing loudly, a teenager in one of the nearby stations giving the two a strange look. Levi didn’t care, only focused on Eren’s alarmed expression, his fingers recoiling back from where they’d tapped Levi’s shoulder.

“Are you going to leave yet, kid?” Levi barked.

“I--” Eren started before Levi pointed a finger at him violently, keeping sure not to touch him.

“No,” he snapped before returning to his groceries.

A second passed and he heard the younger man move to the next station, looking down at his own items distraughtly.

By the time Levi had swiped his credit card, he’d cooled down a bit to start feeling a little embarrassed with his outburst. Eren hadn’t seemed to have meant any harm, and even if Levi had loathed the people from Shiganshina, he still felt bad for treating Eren the way he did.

Levi packed up his purchases in a bag and walked over to the other man, who was feeding some bills to the machine.

“I’m sorry, kid.”

Eren turned to gather his things. “No, I get it,” he murmured, scanning a cup of instant ramen. Come to think of it, all Eren had in his basket were instant ramen besides a few bottles of water.

Eren picked up his umbrella and the two walked out of the market in silence.

Levi cursed. It was still pouring outside, and even heavier now.

“I… have an umbrella,” Eren offered warily, unsure about Levi’s reaction. The older man only sighed.

“And what will you do?” 

“I can walk you to your car first.”

The umbrella was small and upset with the harsh winds being blown at it, not doing much to protect either of their bodies. Levi pressed into Eren’s shoulder to escape getting wet on his right half as the other fought against the wind.

“How are you going to get back?” Levi asked as he loaded up his car.

“I’ll have to walk,” Eren said.

“Why don’t you take the bus?” Levi asked, disgusted by the idea of having to slop through the grimy puddles. The bus was foul, but at least it had a roof.

“I can’t afford to use my money on that,” Eren muttered.

Levi nodded understandingly--he’d been a broke college student once, too.

“I’ll drive you,” Levi said. Eren looked up, shaking his head.

“That’s really fine.”

Levi sneered. “If you die from hypothermia, I’m not the one who wants to feel guilty over it. Go to the other side, and try not drip all over my car.”

**Author's Note:**

> Meeting people from the past that you didn't like very much or weren't very keen on seeing again is painful, Levi, I get you.


End file.
